Scott wrote:
I have been asked to repair a couple of brass cymbals from a drum
set. They have cracks that run parallel to the diameter. Can they be
brazed with o/a? Is there any secrets to share? Heat treated, warping
or whatever? Thanks Scott



You can do, of course, whatever you want, but it won't be much of a
cymbal when you are finished. The usual options are to drill a hole at
the end of the crack to spread out the stress, or cut down the cymbal to
eliminate the crack. You will have a different cymbal at that point; it
may sound good or bad. For short cracks starting at the center hole, I
have made a brass washer and epoxyed it to the center hole.

Cymbals worthy of the name are bronze. The cheap ones are 8% tin,
because they can be stamped from a sheet. The more expensive models are
around 20% tin. This alloy is too brittle to roll in a sheet. The cymbal
maker starts with a biscuit of cast alloy, heats it red hot, pounds and
rolls it flat, stamps it to shape, scrapes grooves in it on the lathe,
annealing as required. Then the cymbal is hammered to work harden it.
The Ziljian and Sabian sites have pictures of the process.

Kevin Gallimore


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